So I nearly had a nasty car crash today.

[TheAnimus]

Its 20:45, I'm driving my eco desiel car, but I'll be honest, its the first time I've driven it for a month, and the first time I've driven on the correct side of the road in as long.

I nearly hit someone on a roundabout who had no headlights, the reason was, he only had one working headlight and didn't want to draw attention (WTF!). Not even side lights.

He was very angry with me, because whilst I failed to acknowledge his right of way, as I didn't see him (I didn't look hard enough mind, I assumed lights would be on 2 hours after nightfall). Not because I nearly hit him, because in the emergency stop he dropped his cigarette and hurt himself.

Which brings me to this question, do you think its safe to smoke and drive, we're talking about, as per poll a built up area in my example.

[GoNz0]

dropped ash on myself once, looked down to blow it off and when i looked up the car in front had stopped. was a 50mph zone. left long skid marks on the road and in my pants!

[Terbinator]

No different to using a phone.

[Barry]

Think it's fine tbh

[watercooled]

I'd also say it's no better than using a phone, plus you have the chance of burning yourself if you drop it. I've been saying it for ages now TBH.

I know people who've been pulled for eating a burger while in a rush, and eating is more important than smoking, albeit somewhat careless to do it while driving.

[melon]

Its 20:45, I'm driving my eco desiel car, but I'll be honest, its the first time I've driven it for a month, and the first time I've driven on the correct side of the road in as long.

I nearly hit someone on a roundabout who had no headlights, the reason was, he only had one working headlight and didn't want to draw attention (WTF!). Not even side lights.

He was very angry with me, because whilst I failed to acknowledge his right of way, as I didn't see him (I didn't look hard enough mind, I assumed lights would be on 2 hours after nightfall). Not because I nearly hit him, because in the emergency stop he dropped his cigarette and hurt himself.

Which brings me to this question, do you think its safe to smoke and drive, we're talking about, as per poll a built up area in my example.

I would probably no as rule - too many idiots out there to be 100% sure.

Didnt you get almost attacked or chased last year too ??

m

[MadduckUK]

Didnt you get almost attacked or chased last year too ??

He attracts trouble this one.

[Larkspeed]

The fact that I quit smoking over 4 years ago now has no bearing on my answer

I smoked and drove for years without incident so based on personal experience I would say it's fine.

Now that said I personally know at least 3 people who have had car accidents which were a direct result of dropping a cigarette in their lap while driving, in one of these instances he wrote off not only his full size ford 4x4 pickup but also the mini van that had stopped and he hit and the car in the oncoming lane that he shunted it into. Two people seriously injured luckily nobody killed.

So based on that I would say it's unsafe and should be treated like anything else while driving, if it directly affects the safety of your driving and you cause an accident you should be charged with dangerous driving and if you kill someone it should be manslaughter.

on a side note the guy you nearly hit is a tool.

turning off your headlights because one is burnt out will draw more attention not less. Also you say you were in a built up area so I'm assuming it was lit, unless they have changed the law in the UK if you are in a lit area it's perfectly legal to drive with just side lights (not as safe as full headlights but legal)

[Bluecube]

Anything that takes your attention away from the road should be deemed iffy, IMHO. Smoking while driving isn't illegal as far as I know but if you do it then accept the consequences if you burn yourself! Zero sympathy from me...

[GoNz0]

Anything that takes your attention away from the road should be deemed iffy, IMHO. Smoking while driving isn't illegal as far as I know but if you do it then accept the consequences if you burn yourself! Zero sympathy from me...

doing as your told and looking in the rear view mirror is taking your attention form the road, so is checking the speedo, checking the side mirrors, the list goes on.

(and i am an ex smoker)

[kalniel]

doing as your told and looking in the rear view mirror is taking your attention form the road, so is checking the speedo, checking the side mirrors, the list goes on.

Don't you choose when to do each of those? So you only do them when it's safe to do so. Having something in your mouth isn't a problem, its that it increases the chances of an unexpected event, so you aren't able to choose a safe moment to brush hot ash from your legs for example.

Kids should also be banned from cars

[Larkspeed]

doing as your told and looking in the rear view mirror is taking your attention form the road, so is checking the speedo, checking the side mirrors, the list goes on.

(and i am an ex smoker)

Actually no they don't.

When doing any of those you can still see in front of you with peripheral vision. and any of those things should only be a quick glance anyway.

Full on looking down into your lap to find something you completely take your eyes off the road and cannot see if front of you with peripheral vision.

I can't remember if they tested my peripheral vision on my UK driving test, I know they did on my Canadian one.

[GoNz0]

Actually no they don't.

When doing any of those you can still see in front of you with peripheral vision. and any of those things should only be a quick glance anyway.

Full on looking down into your lap to find something you completely take your eyes off the road and cannot see if front of you with peripheral vision.

I can't remember if they tested my peripheral vision on my UK driving test, I know they did on my Canadian one.

have you seen the idiots on our roads?

and no peripheral test in the UK when i had mine either.

a few days ago i had the typical (insert c word) of a female audi driver putting blusher on at the lights, it seemed my blown drivers side daytime running light caught her attention when we set off as she spent a good 10 seconds looking in the rear mirror at me before wondering why i was slowing down, as she looked forwards it was a full ABS moment as everything had stopped except her.

[Behemoth]

Having been rear ended by someone lighing a fag than mroe concerned about the car in front I agree. It's on par with using a mobile when driving and is something else that really should be banned and points put on your licence if caught doing it.

[Larkspeed]

and no peripheral test in the UK when i had mine either.

No of course I remember now the UK idea of a vision test was "can you read that number plate over there"

In Canada they actually use a machine that does a full vision test including peripheral vision, or at least they used to it's over 20 years since I passed my test in Canada

I do seem to recall they were talking about using top end simulators for the driving test instead of the open road so they could test you in dangerous circumstances like kids running out in front of you and such, don't know if they ever put it in place though

[scaryjim]

Frankly I'm of the opinion that smoking anytime is wrong, but that doesn't stop me having the odd guilty one every now and then But smoking in a car is just foul - quite apart from the risk of being distracted by falling ash.

That said, eating and drinking (soft drinks!) whilst driving aren't particularly safe either and I've been known to do both of those when I've been travelling to a contract and my timings have been tight. That was almost certainly wrong too, but I think we get complacement about safety once we're tucked up in a familiar little box. I've certainly been a lot less inclined to eat and drink like that in hire cars than I was when I had my own car. Don't know if that's the unfamiliarity of the surroundings or the £600 excess, though